Rochester gains control of its own destiny for the playoffs with 1 game left in the regular season.
KENNESAW, GA. — The Rochester Rattlers won their third straight game, beating the Atlanta Blaze, 11-7, on Saturday night.
The Rattlers continue their playoff push with the big win over the Blaze, and coupled with the New York Lizards loss to the Ohio Machine on Saturday, the Rattlers can gain the MLL playoffs by beating Ohio at Capelli Sport Stadium next Saturday.
Denver, Ohio, and Florida have all clinched playoff spots. The Rattlers (7-6) hold sole possession of fourth place as New York dropped to 6-7. However, the Lizards hold the tie-breaker over the Rattlers, they won the lone game between the two teams, if they end the season with identical records.
The Rattlers led 3-2 after one quarter of play and scored three more goals in the second quarter. Rochester led 6-5 advantage at the half.
Ty Thompson led the Rattlers with two goals and one assist on the evening while John Galloway made 15 saves in the win. Matt Dunn had a huge night for the Rattlers keeping Randy Staats off the board. Dunn also scored his first MLL goal.
Ryan McNamara continued his streak of goal scoring with two goals against the Blaze. Connor Gately also scored one goal and had two assists for the Rattlers and continued to play well while the team’s leading scorer, Jordan Wolf with 40 points, sat out due to injury.
“Galloway kept us in the game at the end,” said head coach Tim Soudan.
Galloway was named the Coca-Cola Player of the Game.
Donny Moss had the highlight ESPN Sports Center Top 10 goal of the night.
Also not in the Rattlers’ lineup were the other two top point scorers: Ned Crotty (31 points) and Jeremy Boltus (20 points). Penfield native Kyle Denhoff, fifth in points with 15, also was not in the lineup.
Irondequoit native Joe Walters led the New York Lizards with 3 goals and 2 assists against Ohio.
Rochester returns home for the season finale to square off against the Machine (9-4) on Aug. 5 at 7 pm. The Rattlers won the first meeting, 12-11 in overtime, in Columbus. A Rochester win will secure the fourth and final playoff berth as Florida will be third. The Launch won both games from the Rattlers this season.